"flyingmetalbird" (jonsavage)
12/05/2016 at 16:21 • Filed to: None
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"flyingmetalbird" (jonsavage)
12/05/2016 at 16:21 • Filed to: None | 1
| 25 |
I love the X1-9! It’s tiny and Italian and sports car and really cool! Ever since I discovered it it has been on my list of cars I want to have someday. But is it a good idea? This is where your help comes in.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Right now I have a 1983 Oldsmobile station wagon that leaks oil and is hard to drive in the cold because the oily smoke comes right into the cabin. This won’t do as a winter car, so I thought about trading it for this little X1-9. (See link above)
I love what I see in the add! It needs work, but way less than the old Civic I just got rid of, and it’ll be way more fun than the Olds I feel I get it running all nice!
So tell me what you think oppo. Time for some brainstorming
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:23 |
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Yes! Yes, it’s a good idea! MR rust-prone Italian cars are best winter cars!
E90M3
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:25 |
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I took a picture of one in 2013, that’s something you didn’t know.
Kanaric
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:31 |
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A Fiat x1/9 won the Danish Touring Car championship in..... 2009!!!! Vs modern porsches, bmws, 90s supras, etc.
Source with more info:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/x19-danish-touring-car-champion-aug-23-2009/13469/page1/
Also a company makes K20 swap kits for them.
An AW11 MR2 does what this car does and is more common.
The car in the video uses a 1.5l turbo fiat engine from another car. I wanted to build a 4agte AW11 but changed my mind and bought another car.
DeLM
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:36 |
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the new Fiat 500 abarth’s engine and trans swap right in.
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Kanaric
> DeLM
12/05/2016 at 16:37 |
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Even better
vicali
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:40 |
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More than a foot smaller than a tr7..
http://www.triumphtr7.com/documents/articles/reviews/x19.asp
Cherry_man1
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:41 |
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Not for people over 6'
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:42 |
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My highschool principal had one. She told me a wheel fell off while driving down the road and she watched it roll by her as she was just cruising along.
Klaus Schmoll
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:51 |
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Tricky to drive on slippery roads, so not exactly the perfect winter car if you plan on making it to next spring.
I had a conversation with a guy who helped me fix my car and had several of these in the late 80s or early 90s when they were worth next to nothing. His M/O was something like this: buy cheap, land in ditch, buy even cheaper, swap some usable parts, wrap around tree, get one for a case of beer, make it driveable again, ... you see the pattern.
InfinityAero
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:55 |
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Supposed to be fun little cars— modern tires should mean a world of improvement for skidpad numbers which were a little lackluster for a MR car— .78-.8 IIRC. I was looking at them pretty extensively before I picked up my Spider, but couldn’t find any at my price point. Many have been converted to pure track cars. The engine in them is pretty dookie— 65-85HP depending on the year. I think that year would spec out to 75HP from the fuel injected setup. I don’t think you can eek much more power out of the SOHC lump either-- which is why swaps seem to be so common. The twin-cam in the Spider was a much better motor.
As others have noted-- a 70s/80s Fiat for use in the snow is *probably* not a good idea; crappy soda-can thickness steel that *loves* to rust... I would recommend an AW11 MR2 instead, personally!
My X-type is too a real Jaguar
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 16:59 |
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If you drive in the winter two words SNOW TIRES
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DeLM
> Kanaric
12/05/2016 at 16:59 |
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I would agree but I am one to try and stay pure 1st. I would go Alfa V-6 too. I save the K20's for replacing the back seats in 90's civic hatchbacks. ;)
ttyymmnn
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 17:06 |
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You don’t know this: There was a neon green one that parked across from my house back in the late 1970s. I was in love with it. I also heard that they basically have sewing machine motors in them.
cletus44 aka Clayton Seams
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 17:08 |
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You CAN NOT winter an X1/9 without killing it in a matter of months. These things had shitty rustproofing for 1970's Italian standards. let that sink in. Want to destroy a vintage sports car? Because that’s exactly what winter will do to that poor thing.
Just fix the oil leak in the Olds.
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flyingmetalbird
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 17:10 |
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I feel like I should clarify this would not be a winter car what so ever. I would fix it up and drive it in the nice weather
Laurence
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 17:18 |
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As rust prone as they are fun to drive - saying that though, the one in that ad doesn’t seem too bad... Probably a lot of rot hiding beneath it though
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Kanaric
> DeLM
12/05/2016 at 17:21 |
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Put the 1.5l turbo fiat engine in like in this car
Won danish touring car championship in 2009
Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 17:52 |
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I had a friend in college who bought one. While driving on the freeway two days later his front passenger wheel departed the car, kept up for a while but then headed off the side of the road, hit a ditch, and then shot well over the trees into an adjoining field.
He sold it for the same amount he paid for it, and it only broke down once, which is likely what you’d consider a good deal, considering.
beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> flyingmetalbird
12/05/2016 at 18:48 |
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My dad owning an X1/9 is why I have MR2's now.
My dad bought one brand new in ‘78. it was a serie speciale in a lighter metallic blue with the little Australian flag and the Nucio Bertone signature on the side.
He tells me had to sell it to get buy a work van in the mid-80's when us kids started to come along.
I think out of all the cars he’s had that’s the one he misses the most,luckily his best mate has still had them on and off again so he’s been able to borrow them occasionally.. but each time he tells me it’s not the same as
his
one.
He found it at a racetrack once, he was sure it was his from the fact it was one of two metallic blue ‘78's imported into Australia, his the only one with both side mirrors.. but sadly it looked like it had at least been partially restored and had lost the flag and signature on the side.
I say get it, but you’ll be in for a world of maintenance, it’ll have rust and the heaters are just there for decoration.
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flyingmetalbird
> Laurence
12/05/2016 at 22:57 |
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I’m going to take a look on Wednesday. Where should I look for the rust?
pip bip - choose Corrour
> flyingmetalbird
12/06/2016 at 03:33 |
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in some markets also sold as a Bertone X1/9
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flyingmetalbird
> pip bip - choose Corrour
12/06/2016 at 09:47 |
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I’m pretty sure after ‘82 or ‘83 they were all Bertone because Fiat left the U.S.
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DeLM
> Kanaric
12/06/2016 at 10:06 |
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Exactly!!! resto -mod it if you will. :)
Spridget
> flyingmetalbird
12/09/2016 at 23:25 |
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This would be an absolutely horrendous winter car, and more painful to work on than your Olds or Honda.
Do it.
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MRF95
> flyingmetalbird
01/07/2017 at 02:06 |
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They were sold as Bertone here in the states until 87-88.